


Union Interference

by Bluewolf458



Category: The Sentinel
Genre: Gen, Sentinel Thursday
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-17
Updated: 2017-11-17
Packaged: 2019-02-03 16:34:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,663
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12752049
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bluewolf458/pseuds/Bluewolf458
Summary: The union rep is making life difficult for Blair





	Union Interference

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted to Sentinel Thursday in two parts for the prompts rage and dust.

Union Interference

by Bluewolf

Although Simon had been assured that Blair's four years working with Major Crime would count as 'served time' and that once he had taken firearms training he could move straight back into Major Crime, the union insisted that Blair should serve a minimum of three months as a patrol officer "because he knew nothing of the everyday work of the men and women who formed the majority of the police force." And before he could move back to Major Crime, he would have to sit the detectives' exam, even though the previous four years proved he knew the work.

Simon was incandescent with rage, because while Blair was working with patrol he wouldn't be able to work with Jim, so Jim wouldn't be able to work at his full capacity. But although they had told Chief Warren and DA Cuthbert a little about Jim's senses and how much Blair helped him to control them, they hadn't let even them know the full extent of Jim's abilities... and they certainly weren't willing to let the union representative know, for they didn't totally trust his discretion.

Not even Warren or Cuthbert could defy a union decree. Even knowing that, Simon felt badly let down by them.

Jim wasn't happy, although he was not as annoyed as Simon. Blair was _his_ partner, not anyone else's! And he didn't trust Blair's safety to anyone else... well, maybe the other members of Major Crime, if absolutely necessary... but nobody else! Not even the very experienced Patrol officer assigned as Blair's partner.

Blair, on the third hand, was fairly resigned about it. He had had a feeling that there would be some resentment, a feeling that he was being shown favoritism even though he was simply moving back into the position he had held, unpaid, for four years, if he didn't do at least some Patrol time. He was quite happy to show the other cadets that he didn't feel 'above' them despite the PhD he had finally earned with his dissertation on the police, having decided to sue for wrongful dismissal from Rainier, since he had never officially submitted the sentinel dissertation.

He had accepted, as compensation, their agreement to consider a dissertation on another subject, and three or four days working solidly on it had been enough to finalize the one on the police that he had been working on as well as the sentinel one, to show TPTB in case they queried the length of time it was taking him to get his PhD. In any case, because Rainier didn't see and approve it before Berkshire decided to publish it, he couldn't have submitted the sentinel dissertation anyway. The case against Berkshire, which he also sued because he had refused permission for them to publish, was still ongoing, but he didn't expect too much delay, since all he was asking from them was a public apology and a nominal sum of money - enough to leave him debt-free and with a few hundred dollars in his bank account; far less than Jim's lawyer thought he could have claimed.

Blair wanted to get back to working with Jim, but he considered three months working with Patrol a small price to pay for the benefits that would undoubtedly result from it. There was more likely to be co-operation, faster response time to a call for back-up, if they felt that Blair was 'one of them'. He had pointed that out to Jim and Simon, finding Jim more accepting of his rationale than Simon, who simply wanted his best team back.

***

On the whole, Blair (who had already sat and passed the detective's exam) found he was quite enjoying his time in Patrol. That wasn't to say he found everything a bed of roses. Patrol ran into some problems the detectives didn't. Road rage, for example. He suspected that even in the days of horse-drawn vehicles some drivers - those with thoroughbred horses rather than carthorses, even though some carthorses had impeccable breeding for their type - had automatically expected to be given right of way, and reacted badly if they didn't get it. With cars, though, it was more a matter of driver impatience than snobbery - and what the impatient drivers planned to do with the thirty seconds they saved by dangerous driving was anyone's guess. And of course they wasted several minutes by swinging in front of, and raging at, someone whose only 'crime' was to have been keeping inside the speed limit. Granted, sometimes the 'crime' was to have cut in front of someone, and Blair could sympathize with the driver who sometimes had to make an emergency stop because of it - but basically he considered road rage inexcusable, while mentally making notes about a possible article he could write about it.

And his partner - an elderly officer whose regular partner had retired just before the union declared that Blair must do time on patrol - was also due to retire. Dwight Fawcett had agreed to stay until Blair's three months was up, and he was teaching Blair a lot about the work of his department.

Yes, Blair decided. Simon might not be happy, Jim might not be too pleased about it, but this three months was proving to be very educational. And, ultimately, that could only help his new career in Cascade's police force.

***

It was amazing the different speed at which three months could pass for different people, depending on how it affected them.

For most of the detectives in Major Crime, it took three months. For their captain, it took at least four. For Jim Ellison, it took close on a year... for Blair Sandburg, riding with a patrol officer on the insistence of the union, it was only a few days. And for Dwight Fawcett, who had delayed his retirement to partner the apparent rookie knowing it was only for three months, it seemed little more than a week. He had been eagerly anticipating that retirement, but found riding with Blair was interesting. He had taught Blair a lot - but Blair had given him quite a few insights into life as a detective.

But even the longest three months finally comes to an end. Blair bade a cheerful farewell to Patrol, an affectionate one to his patrol partner, and headed back to his 'home' in Major Crime.

But the union rep hadn't finished with Blair.

Nobody had put two and two together, because different departments were involved, but Blair wasn't the first person Greg Willoughby had targeted for what could only be called petty harassment.

Although he was a detective, he was firmly stuck in Bunko. Every time he had tried to move to a more prestigious department, he had failed - and he bitterly resented everyone who had made the move, bypassing Bunko, that dealt with the most minor of crimes. He had never understood that he would have been better staying in Patrol. He had been a good Patrol officer; he was not a good, not even a mediocre, detective. He had passed the detective's exam, but although he knew the theory he couldn't apply it. On his own, he couldn't deduce his way out of his own living room during a power outage.

Everyone in Bunko knew how hopeless he was as a detective, but his captain had the tact to tell him that in one of the more prestigious departments, he would have less time to devote to his union work. He could accept that, because he enjoyed the power he felt he had as the union rep. But he would still have liked to be in a more prestigious department.

He was conscientious enough that if the men he hated needed union representation, he gave it - but he also insisted on the most minor of union rules being followed, which made him far from popular - especially since he had found one or two minor rules that nobody knew existed.

And so, two or three weeks after Blair resumed his position as Jim's partner, Willoughby contacted Simon.

"Sorry to bother you, Captain," he lied, "but there's a six-monthly seminar on procedure that it's recommended all new detectives attend. It's next Tuesday afternoon, and although I know Detective Sandburg worked long enough with Major Crime as an observer to count as not exactly 'new', union regulations do say that he should attend."

Simon took a deep breath. Attendance at seminars wasn't exactly obligatory, and he was tempted to tell Willoughby that - but he had a feeling that if he did, Willoughby would come up with something that would pull Blair away from his work for more than one afternoon.

"Where is it being held?"

"Station Hotel. Sandburg should report there by 1.30."

"All right. What about his partner? Does Ellison have to attend too?"

"If he wants."

Simon hung up, and went to his office door. "Sandburg! Ellison!"

The two glanced at each other. It was unusual for Simon to call Blair's name first... Side by side, they headed for Simon's office.

Jim barely had time to shut the door before Simon said, "Willoughby is being awkward again."

Blair sighed. "Now what?"

Simon explained, and Jim muttered, "The man's an idiot!"

"I think everyone in the precinct knows that, but with the power of the union behind him... " Simon's disgruntlement was clear in his voice.

"Doesn't the union think that by the time a man makes detective he won't know all about procedure?" Jim asked.

"Well, Willoughby did say 'recommended'," Simon conceded, "but given the way he'd been putting obstacles in Sandburg's way - "

"He means 'must'," Jim muttered.

"He did agree that Jim didn't have to go," Simon added. "Just 'if he wanted'."

"I'll go," Jim said. "It's probable that the experienced cops don't usually bother, because we know procedure - and why the union thinks we'd let our partners by slip-shod about it... it's insulting. So I'll go along and see what's so important about this lecture."

***

There were only two other men in the room when Jim and Blair entered. They introduced themselves - Alex Castle from Bellingham and Tony Newcome from Olympia.

"Seems a complete waste of time," Newcome muttered. "Ours, our partners', and even the guy giving the talk. Do they think our partners won't teach us 'procedure', even if we didn't have to show we knew at least the rudiments of it when we sat the detective's exam? Hell, we got classes on procedure at the Academy!"

Jim grinned. "That's why I came along. Jim Ellison, Cascade PD, Major Crime," he introduced himself. "Blair here is my partner, newly assigned as a detective, hence this... I've been a detective for some seven years and I've been Cascade's Cop of the Year a couple of times. If I think this afternoon is a complete waste of time, I'm going to do some serious complaining."

At least they had been given comfortable chairs, and they settled in them, talking cheerfully for the two or three minutes it took for the lecturer to arrive.

"Captain Hope," he announced himself. "And you are?"

They each introduced themselves, and he looked at Jim. "I gather you're the experienced cop that chose to accompany his partner."

"That's right, sir."

"You don't really need to attend. I'm sure you have other things to do."

Jim smiled. "When Detective Sandburg was required to attend, it occurred to me that in the years I've been a detective I might have let my procedural standards lapse a little, and a refresher course might be a good idea."

Hope looked at him a little doubtfully, then said, "All right."

He swung into his talk. Inside a minute Blair was suppressing a yawn, and he was aware of Newcome also suppressing one. He couldn't see Castle, but suspected that he, too, was already bored; and Jim was concentrating on... something. Blair wasn't sure what.

Blair took a deep breath, and tried to concentrate on the words.

The content of the talk - it was hardly a lecture - was in fact reasonably interesting, but Hope's presentation was hopeless. The man was making the subject as dry as dust. Drier than dust, if that were possible. Over the years Blair had sat through the efforts of one or two lecturers that were a good example of how not to interest their hearers, in one case making every mistake that his lecture was telling his students not to make, but even with that as an example he thought that this was probably the worst presentation he had ever heard.

Blair always carried a notebook and pencil, and because he was forcing himself to listen to the words, habit led him to make one or two notes; and he was aware of a look of some approval - no, not approval, almost gratitude - on Hope's face. So... the man had to be aware of his shortcomings as a teacher.

And then Blair realized... Hope's presentation was improving, becoming almost animated. He was aware of the others, including Jim, paying more attention to what was being said.

This talk had seemed, as Newcome had complained right at the start, a waste of time, whoever had thought it necessary to subject new detectives to it. They knew, or thought they knew, everything it covered. Perhaps Hope was also aware of that... and was simply going through the motions. But the presence of one person who paid attention and actually took notes had enlivened him.

The talk lasted nearly two hours, and all four men - even Jim - picked up two or three pointers from it. As he wound down, Hope looked directly at Blair.

"Thank you," he said. "Whether you actually needed to take notes or whether you were just being encouraging, I don't know, but it made me see that I wasn't totally wasting my time... "

Blair grinned. "Habit," he said. "Years as a student. Yes, I understand that you must feel you're wasting your time by telling us things that we already know. But you'd be amazed how much a student can get out of a lecture - or a talk - if the lecturer is - or seems - enthusiastic. No matter how much someone knows, there's always more to learn."

"Blair's right," Jim said quietly. "Even with the experience I've got, you brought up a couple of points I've known about but tended not to consider. But I'd have totally missed them if you hadn't changed your approach, the way you gave the talk."

"Sounding enthusiastic - even if you've given this talk so often that you're bored with it, even if you think all the people in your 'class' know everything you're saying - is well worth while," Blair repeated.

"I won't forget," Hope said.

***

As they headed for home, Jim asked, "Were you just trying to encourage him?"

"Yes and no," Blair said. "Yes, his initial presentation was utterly boring, but I started to listen, and realized that some of what he was saying was actually quite informative. That was when I also realized that _he_ thought he was wasting both his time and ours, and had become disheartened. But I thought it was worth making a note of the points that were interesting. And it paid off for all of us."

 _Yes,_ Jim thought, _it had._

Blair grinned. "You know," he said, "it might be an idea to visit Willoughby tomorrow and thank him for sending us to that talk. Tell him how interesting we found it."

"That would really sweep the feet from under him," Jim said.

"And it might stop him from making a nuisance of himself again."

"Want to stop and pick up Chinese for dinner?" Jim asked after a moment's silence.

"Good idea," Blair agreed, and a minute later Jim stopped the truck outside their favourite Chinese take away. Jim knew, without asking, what he wanted; meanwhile Blair was planning exactly how he would word his appreciation of the afternoon's talk to Greg Willoughby.

The union rep wouldn't know how to react.


End file.
